As Little Sis told you in her post of some fabulous cookies that include garam masala, that intriguing Indian spice blend, we, like so many of you have a strong Christmas Cookie tradition in our family. I particularly loved making cookie press cookies with my Mom and Little Sis and sprinkling red and green sugar on top of the various shapes. So what’s a sugar-busting, gluten free baker to do? Apparently lots of GF bakers are using almond flour. Well, almond flour is a bit over the top price -wise, but why not make your own? Especially in the interest of making a healthier iced lemon cookie!

I placed a handful of raw almonds in the Vita-Mix at a time and ground them until a few chunks were still flying. You don’t want to go too long or you will create gooey, pre-almond butter. Then I poured it through a colander to remove the big pieces which I threw back in with some more almonds until I had enough almond flour. (I used whole almonds, Detoxinista suggests using blanched, slivered almonds, but again… I’m cheap!)

Drop by Tablespoon-ful onto a baking sheet, lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Bake for about 8 minutes at 350F, or until the edges turn golden brown.

Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, cream together the coconut oil, honey, lemon zest and salt, until well combined. If the coconut oil starts to melt (it melts at temperatures above 76 degrees), briefly place the mixture in the fridge to help it set.

Frost the cooled cookies, and let them set in the fridge for a more solid-frosting.

I really like these cookies, and both my boys young and young at heart love these cookies. The original recipe states you can also chill the dough and then cut out shapes by smushing out a bit on the silpat/ parchment and using a cookie cutter. I’m afraid I don’t have time for pretty this year… I’m so glad to have time for yummy!

We hope you are enjoying this phase of the holidays. It can be so overwhelming and so hard to stick with dietary goals. Just remember, every meal and every snack offers another chance to make healthy choices. Don’t beat yourself up over the slips. Remember the Baby Steps and which we’ll be getting back to very soon. Happy Holidays!

If I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know that I am writing about last week’s cookies! (Course I had to tell you. I’m not very good at keeping secrets – you can ask Little Sis.)

My family has been on the road visiting other family, including Little Sis (yeah!), Step-daughter and 2 of my three wonderful step-grands, and we are now enjoying The Chautauqua Institute in New York with Dad and Step-Mom. Little Sis kindly has posted in my absence and now I’m cooking in someone else’s kitchen…Luckily I have pictures from last week’s second endeavor to use the almond milk meal (AMM) leftover from making almond milk. And most importantly, I took a photo of the write-on wipe-off board on my frig where I noted the ingredients…

Ignore the cumin – from an earlier endeavor :-)

In the past I have been an overzealous holiday cookie maker who then embarks on the dreary 12-step process of cookie-making recovery. Despite having only made it to step 4 this year, I have been thinking about treats that can go in a lunch box and be eaten by my gluten-free husband. Here is my attempt to make something recognizably treat-y from AMM.

Preheat oven to 350
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
Mash together the AMM, butter, and coconut
add coconut, vanilla and salt
add beaten egg

Drop by spoonful onto parchment lined baking sheet

smash with a fork to flatten
Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until getting a little crispy.
If you take them out too early (I tried taking them out at different times) they stay kind of mushy.
Cool on a rack and enjoy!!

As I contemplate my only child entering Middle School with the concomitant increased freedom and exposure regarding worldly foods and foibles, I am going to attempt to provide snacks in the lunch that will entice him to walk the straight and narrow – or narrow-ish. It ain’t going to be easy my friends! But my rapidly rising (in height, ability and attitude) 6th grader thought these cookies were awesome, so we’re off to a good start.